The House I Found On Coming Nearer Was Small And Mean-Looking
And Very Old; The Farm Buildings In A Dilapidated Condition,
The Thatch Rotten And Riddled With Holes In Which Many
Starlings And Sparrows Had Their Nests.
Gates and fences were
broken down, and the ground was everywhere overgrown with
weeds and encumbered with old broken and rusty implements, and
littered with rubbish.
No person could I see about the place,
but knew it was inhabited as there were some fowls walking
about, and some calves shut in a pen in one of the numerous
buildings were dolefully calling - calling to be fed. Seeing a
door half open at one end of the house I went to it and rapped
on the warped paintless wood with my stick, and after about a
minute a young woman came from an inner room and asked me what
I wanted. She was not disturbed or surprised at my sudden
appearance there: her face was impassive, and her eyes when
they met mine appeared to look not at me but at something
distant, and her words were spoken mechanically.
I said that I was hot and thirsty and tired and would be glad
of a glass of milk.
Without a word she turned and left me standing there, and
presently returned with a tumbler of milk which she placed on
a deal table standing near me. To my remarks she replied in
monosyllables, and stood impassively, her hands at her side,
her eyes cast down, waiting for me to drink the milk and go.
And when I had finished it and set the glass down and thanked
her, she turned in silence and went back to that inner room
from which she first came.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 198 of 298
Words from 54236 to 54526
of 82198
